Edward by Accident
by ninharsag
Summary: "That Edward suit fits you like a bandage.  Yes, I bought it by accident." Okay, okay you've heard it...


**Obviously with an enormous debt to pages 40-45 of twilight...**

I threw down a quick bowl of oats and chugged a glass of cranberry juice. I felt excited to go to classes today and that scared me. I knew it wasn't the chance to expand my knowledge that was enthralling me. It was the small chance that I might see my really cute Biology lecturer wandering around the campus. Twice now, I had seen him while buying my lunch. Both times he was walking along with other lecturers from the Science faculty and each time he had said "hello" to me. If I was being honest with myself, I knew that I wanted to get to campus and go wandering around just in case I ran into him again. And that was very, very stupid. No really, it was extremely stupid.

I really should be avoiding him, especially after I tripped over the wastepaper basket on my way out of the lecture theatre the other day, right in front of the speaker's desk. I was still so embarrassed about that. I know that I'm hopelessly clumsy and that he's a lecturer and so completely out of my league. I really shouldn't be so anxious to see him.

I had to concentrate really hard on walking down the driveway because I was wearing these fabulous new high spiked heels that I had just bought. I had vacillated about putting them on today because it was wet out and I had quite a bit of walking to do between classes, even without the temptation of walking around trying to accidentally meet up with a certain person. They also made it very difficult to drive my antiquated four-wheel drive monster truck but they did make my legs look longer. If they made my Biology teacher notice my legs in a good way, then it was worth it.

Driving to campus, I distracted myself from my fear of falling over embarrassingly by singing loudly along with my favourite song of the moment when it came on, and thinking about Mike and Eric, another couple of guys in my Biology class. Despite my idiotic bin tumbling act, both Mike and Eric seemed to be interested in me. This was very different to the way the guys had treated me at my previous school but maybe that was because there everyone had known "Bumbling Bella" for years. I wasn't sure if I was comfortable with all the attention though.

My monster truck seemed to have no trouble with the slippery conditions this morning although the radio said there had been a major accident outside a school, with both drivers taken to hospital by ambulance. I drove very slowly and carefully after hearing the news, not wanting to cause any destruction.

When I got out of my truck in the parking lot, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something about my tyres caught my eye. I walked to the back of the truck, holding on to the side for support when I thought my heels were going to tip me over, to examine all of my tyres. Looking closely, I could see that these were new tyres, with clear diamond shaped tread marks. Charlie must have gotten up who knows how early to replace all four tyres. My throat suddenly felt tight. I wasn't used to being taken care of and this seemed absolutely nuts. Who goes around replacing tyres in the middle of the night?

I walked around the other side of my truck, struggling to fight back the sudden surge of worry and doubt at the state of my dad's sanity, when I heard an odd sound. It was a high-pitched screech, and it was becoming louder and louder.

I poked my head out from behind my car and it was weird – like I could see several things at once. My Biology Lecturer was actually walking along the footpath with another student Jessica Stanley, who was not only wearing higher heels than me but also showing a lot more cleavage. More importantly, there was a shiny silver Volvo skidding, tyres locked and squealing against the brakes, sliding across the parking lot directly towards me. Before I could even take a breath, the car slammed into the opposite side of my truck from where I was standing with a sickening crunch of metal, followed by a few seconds of tinkling glass noises.

"Shit! What the fuck -?" I heard a voice screaming, only belatedly recognizing it as my own. Great. Now I had demonstrated my foul mouth in front of my Biology teacher. How attractive. Very deliberately _not_ looking in his direction, I tottered around to the other side, to assess the damage. The late model Volvo was embedded in the side of the truck but fortunately my door was clear. It was hard to see the extent of the damage. I could hear glass fragments crunching under my treacherous heels. I put out a cautious hand to steady myself on the side of the truck.

I heard footsteps rushing to my side and was peripherally aware of a tall figure standing next to me. It must be the driver of the other car. Stupid Volvo driver.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help it!" I heard a low voice next to me say. I sighed disgustedly, not bothering to even look at him. I hoped he had insurance because it looked as if his car had taken a lot more damage than mine. One of the good things about the old vehicles is the way they made them so solid.

One quick hopeful glance had shown me that my instant fantasy of my Biology lecturer rushing to my side to see if were hurt, was just that, a fantasy. I watched him turn towards the Uni buildings, with the slutty Jessica chatting away at his side. Internally shaking my head at the pathetic way in which I had imbued his simple 'hello' to me with such significance when here he was having extensive, loud discourse with Jessica, I sighed again and reached into my bag for some paper. If I had to take public transport home, I was really going to regret wearing these shoes.

I wrote out my details on the paper and turned around to give them to the car smasher. He was squatting, trying apparently to assess the damage to his car at eye level. He had his face in his hands. I heaved yet another sigh, this time out of impatience and tapped my foot slightly on the ground. The scrunching of glass effectively attracted his attention.

He turned around, still squatting, and spotted my shoes. He straightened up immediately, his eyes widening as he looked at me, brushing his hands together slowly. He was tall, I discovered, about a foot taller than me probably if I weren't wearing these stupid heels. He was also obviously young, clearly a fellow student. Silently, I held the piece of paper toward him.

He just stood there for a moment as if he had no idea what I was doing. I wondered if he'd had a head injury. Annoyed as I was, I couldn't help noticing that he was very attractive, with a chiseled jaw, heavy brows and surprisingly large dark green eyes. His bronze hair was tousled as if he had just got out of bed.

"Oh, your details, right" he said suddenly in a soft voice like velvet. He patted his pockets uselessly. "Do you have any spare paper?" he asked. "Wait a minute, why don't I just text you?"

I fumbled around in my bag again, continuing to hunt for paper but then I gave up and watched him start the pocket routine again before he found his phone. The expression on my face must have clearly reflected my annoyance because he took one quick look and asked "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine" I huffed in the type of voice which clearly says that you are not. He apologized again and started texting. After a moment or two, he stopped and simply stared again at the cars. Aware that I was still staring at him, he flushed suddenly, a fine red patina covering his cheeks.

"It's my first accident," he said softly, still looking at the car.

If he was looking for sympathy, he was trying the wrong woman. "Well much as I would love to congratulate you on breaking your cherry, I really wish you hadn't picked me" I said acidly.

At my words, he looked back at me. His eyes took on a slight sparkle and his mouth turned up slightly at the corner. "Was it your first time as well?" he asked.

I couldn't stop the blush. I thought for a second about both answers to his question. Sexually, I was still technically a virgin but when it came to car accidents…

"Actually no," I replied calmly enough "I've been-" I paused slightly, unsure if I should say this, "rear-ended before".

I stuck out my chin and looked him right in his gorgeous eyes. He laughed delightedly and took the challenge. "I hate his guts already" he said, grinning. "Did he stick around? Do the right thing?" he asked, his lips turning into a teasing smile.

I didn't want to. I had every right to be pissed off with him but I couldn't help it. I could feel my anger melting. I smiled at him.

He smiled right back.

"So", he said leaning on my truck. I noticed the line of his hips in his faded black jeans. "As you're obviously so much more experienced than I am, do you have any suggestions for me about how I could make it better for next time?"

I bit my lip and closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them, he was wearing this cocky grin. He really was quite gorgeous but I couldn't let him have the last word.

"Well" I said consideringly, "You could have been going faster, I suppose". He grinned even more widely. "I've been told that slower is better" he countered raising one eyebrow.

I wondered if he practiced that.

"It was over pretty quickly" I taunted "I don't think it lasted more than a couple of seconds".

His mouth pulled down at the corners. "I couldn't have made it longer" he said "It wasn't physically possible".

"And you could have used protection" I continued, getting into it.

He pulled a face. "What? Put one of those revolting rubber things over my – front end. Those things look so stupid!"

I couldn't hold back a laugh. I had to agree that those car headlight protector things looked spectacularly stupid. I saw the gorgeous, hopeless driver look down at the piece of paper with my contact details he held in his hand.

"I've got to say, Isabella," he said, obviously reading my name, "You were pretty loud there. I'm sure I heard a few swear words".

I felt myself blushing again. "Don't you like a bit of dirty talk?" I said before I could think too much. "Besides," I continued, "I've got to say, that it would be nice if you had known my name at least. Most people call me Bella".

"It would have been nice, Bella" he agreed, taking a step towards me. I looked up at his face. How had he suddenly got so close? "Let me make it up to you" he said quietly. "Can I get you a glass of something? Maybe hold your hand for a while?"

I had to admit he was a good at this and I felt a shiver through me, looking into the depths of those green eyes. Deliberately, I pulled myself away. "I've got to run," I said with a deep breath.

Traffic was starting to build up in the parking lot where the Volvo was blocking the way. "Hey!" I heard someone shout, and there was the loud honking of a car horn.

The hopeless Volvo driver, aka Edward moved away from me, his smile dimming. "May I call you?" he asked me rather formally. His manner was so different that I lost all my assurance in a hurry. I looked down, and pulled my long brown hair forward over my face.

"You can just settle it with the insurance" I said tonelessly. I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling the chill of stepping away from him. His teasing had elevated me for a few moments, but reality was quickly seeping back in. Here was just another mess in what was probably going to turn out to be a bad day. I put the piece of paper with the contact details in my bag and turned away. "You better move your car" I called over my shoulder.

I turned and walked off to my lecture, shouldering my bag. I had just reached the lecture theatre when I heard the ring of a text message. Checking my phone, I saw it listed licence plate number and insurance details and then said "Edward Cullen. Thanks for being my first. When can I bump into you again?".

**Hey, at least I restrained myself from using "horny"!**


End file.
